An important form of writing is the personal diary. Writing a diary is an excellent way to keep a record of what you do. You can also record your feelings. Some people write one every day while others produce entries every couple of days or once a week.
Many famous people keep diaries and then publish them for everybody to read. One diary which made an enormous impact was the diary of Anne Frank. Anne Frank was a 13-year-old girl living in Amsterdam when she was given a blank diary in 1942 during the second world war. Soon afterwards, she and her family went into hiding from the German army and, for two years, Anne recorded the thoughts and feelings of a real teenager in a very difficult situation. The fact that she died in a German concentration camp in 1945 makes it a particularly poignant read.
A taxi driver's week
Here is a diary of a Hong Kong Island taxi driver for one week.
Monday: Had a very busy day today. For my first fare, I picked up two tourists at the Mandarin Hotel and took them to Chek Lap Kok airport. Then there were lots of short trips mainly around Central. Four girls wanted to go to the Peak quickly, but road works made the journey take twice as long as usual. Just after lunch, a lady went to the SPCA with her cat and it was very noisy. I had break for 20 minutes and then had some bad luck. An old man travelled from North Point to Chai Wan and then told me he had no money. It took me half an hour to contact his daughter and sort it out. I was annoyed but the man was very apologetic so I forgave him.
Tuesday: Generally a quiet day. Queued up at the Star Ferry for nearly half an hour and then got a fare to Shau Kei Wan. At about 10 o'clock, a businessman had only a $1,000 bill and I had to stop at a shop and get some change. Traffic was very busy in Causeway Bay and I was late for lunch with my friend at our favourite tea house. In the afternoon, a woman left a bag on the back seat so I sounded the horn and she came back and got it. People can sometimes be very careless with their personal possessions! Just as I finished my shift, I noticed that one of
my passengers had spilled some water on the floor.